CHICAGO--The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) issued guiding principles to provide the framework for streamlining and updating U.S. federal agencies' oversight of food safety responsibilities. Drafted by a working group of IFT members with expertise on food safety issues, the principles were submitted to the National Academy of Sciences' Committee to Ensure Safe Food from Production to Consumption, which held its first meeting in Washington, DC, March 23.
"These principles emphasize public health, sound science, and risk analysis," said IFT President Bruce R. Stillings, Ph.D. "They separate responsibility for food safety oversight from marketing responsibilities. They call for an open process that seeks the views of consumers, producers, processors, and retailers. And they encourage cooperation, not contention, as well as timeliness, consistency, and responsiveness."
IFT's principles for food safety oversight are:
- Food safety and public health must be the primary purposes for oversight and regulation of the food system;
- Secondary to safety and public health, oversight is appropriate to prevent fraud, promote health, foster global competitiveness of American food and agricultural products, and to ensure harmony among domestic and international food standards;
- Oversight for food safety must encompass all components of the food system from production through distribution, imported and domestic foods, science and risk-based regulation for implementing policy, adequate provision for enforcement of regulations, food labeling, intramural research programs, education of regulatory personnel and the public, and communication with the regulated community;
- Oversight and regulation must be based foremost on sound science and risk assessment, taking into consideration the costs and benefits of regulations;
- Responsibility for oversight to assure food safety must be completely separate from marketing, promotional and industrial policies of all government agencies;
- Scientific expertise from academia, industry, professional societies and other state and federal sources must be considered in the development of food policies and regulations;
- Oversight policies must be developed in an open and transparent process that considers the views of consumers, producers, processors, retailers and other interested parties in assuring food safety and wholesomeness;
- Regulatory agencies must work in cooperation with the regulated food industry to correct for non-compliance with established standards;
- Government regulatory agencies must maintain strong and focused intramural research programs while drawing extensively on extramural research from academia, industry and other government/private sources;
- Policies and regulations must be crafted with sufficient flexibility to facilitate timely responses to innovations in science and technology;
- Oversight policies and regulations must be consistent across any and all agencies responsible for food safety;
- Oversight policies and regulations must facilitate and ensure harmony among states and nations;
Safety of foods and ingredients must be based on product characteristics not the process by which the food was grown or produced; establishment of food processing and hygiene controls must be based on objective criteria.
These food safety oversight principles have already received the endorsement of the American Association of Cereal Chemists, American Council on Science and Health, American Dairy Science Association, American Dietetic Association, American Meat Science Association, American Oil Chemists Society, American Society for Clinical Nutrition, American Society of Agronomy, American Society of Animal Science, Crop Science Society America, Federation of Animal Science Societies, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and Soil Science Society of America. Endorsements from other organizations are pending.
For a detailed copy of IFT's principles, contact Ellen Sullivan at (312) 782-8424 X131.
Founded in 1939, IFT is a non-profit scientific society with 28,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues.